Fire Prevention News: Weekly Roundup – April 11, 2011

Selected Fire Prevention related articles appearing in the past week from scores of e-sources in the news media. Updated each Monday morning.

Links to Fire Prevention-related news articles – Updated 04/11/2011

Campaigns/ Other Fire Prevention Activities

Sioux City Fire and Rescue Wants To Make Your Home Fire Safe Your home is probably your most cherished possession and losing it to a fire could be devastating. That’s why the Sioux City Fire & Rescue is trying to help make you and you’re home fire ready. The Department announced a new free three-step fire safety …
Perkins firefighters to go door-to-door April 16 – The CDC reports that two-thirds of those lives could have been saved if a working smoke alarm was present in the home at the time of the fire . It is not uncommon for firefighters to find smoke alarms with batteries that do not work or batteries that …
Preparing kids for fire safety Dr. Robert Cole, a psychology professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a nationally respected authority on teaching fire safety to young children, will conduct a workshop for hundreds of firefighters, preschool teachers and daycare …

Campus Fire Safety

Fire in MU quickly doused – Newberg said the building’s lower level was closed throughout the morning. Mike Reichling of the Tempe Fire Department said the sprinkler system saved the building. The building’s system was upgraded following a fire in November 2007, he said.
Nothing replaces a visual image’ Called Oak Flame 2011 and sponsored by Tech’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety, the project was designed to educate Tech students about fire safety as well as demonstrate the advantage of a sprinkler system, said organizer Tolga Durak. …
Fire set in mock Virginia Tech dorm room The importance of smoke detectors and sprinkler systems has been taught as an important part of fire prevention for years. But for college students, sometimes seeing is believing. Two typical college dorms are set up on Virginia Tech’s campus. …
Smoke alarms offered to college students Local fire departments will be tasked with going to the residence and properly installing the smoke alarms. In addition, a brief discussion on fire prevention and a survey form will be completed to conform to the requirements of the grant program. …

CO Detectors

Jersey City deaths put spotlight on state fire code mandating carbon monoxide … – After news surfaced that carbon monoxide poisoning killed two Jersey City residents in the same apartment within the last month, even top county and city officials were confused about whether state law requires the presence of carbon monoxide detectors

Inspections / Code enforcement

No Building Codes in Columbus Jct. There are state fire codes that cover rental properties, but officials say they rarely get enforced. Columbus Junction fire officials say the town is one of many in Iowa to not have building codes. Iowa is what’s called a “home-rule” state, …

Smoke Alarms

Northeast Ohio: 3 cities will require smoke detector switch – Photoelectric smoke detectors would sense the fire as soon as the smoke breaks the light. Photoelectric smoke detectors cost anywhere from four to eight dollars more than a regular smoke detector . Shaker Heights Fire Chief Kevin Jacobs said if …
Firefighters Giving Away Free Smoke Detectors Terre Haute firefighters say 40 percent of residents don’t have a smoke alarm in their home. In effort to save lives and make the statistic lower, they’ll be giving away some for free. Fire Chief Jeff Fisher says when he works with school aged children …

Sprinklers

Multipurpose Plumbing-Fire Sprinkler Systems Help California Meet New Fire … “We know that fire sprinklers save lives, reduce injuries and decrease property damage,” explains California Acting State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover, who says this fact is borne out by decades of studies across the nation. “The goal of any sprinkler …
Fire sprinklers not required in GA homes – They are charged with setting building standards, recommending in 2009 that all states and municipalities adopt codes requiring sprinkler systems in homes and town houses less than three stories high. Just last year, Georgia law …
House douses governor’s proposed changes to sprinkler bill Montana – “The bill with my amendments still prohibits state building codes from adopting a state wide requirement on fire sprinklers. However, my amendments to House Bill 307 permit our state building codes to adopt a rule that would allow local jurisdictions …
NFPA Establishes Sprinkler Antifreeze Requirements An updated Safety Alert from the National Fire Protection Association addresses the use of antifreeze in new and existing occupancies. It replaces July and August 2010 Alerts that said antifreeze shouldn’t be used in residential sprinklers. …
Repeal of sprinkler legislation up for vote A state Senate committee is slated to vote on legislation Wednesday morning that would reverse a mandate requiring new single-family and duplex homes to be equipped with residential sprinkler systems. …
Home sprinklers will save lives and won’t kill the housing recovery – What does all of this have to do with residential fire sprinklers ? Plenty. For the last 30 years, since residential fire sprinklers first became available, the home building industry has fought vigorously to block regulations that would require fire .
Builders, fire officials spar over sprinkler rule – A regulation recommending that homes built after Jan. 1, 2011, install fire sprinklers has sparked a nationwide fight between fire officials and home builders. Fire officials say the sprinklers save lives.
Commissioners watch fire sprinkler demonstration – For once in their careers, dozens of firefighters stood watching as two buildings burst into flames Tuesday afternoon near the County Administration Building in Elkton. Luckily for all involved, the fire was well under control as a demonstration to …
Calvert Commissioners Approve Home Sprinkler Requirement Is the extra safety provided by a sprinkler system worth adding $1000 to $6000 to the cost of a single family home? The Calvert Commissioners decided it was at their April 5 meeting, voting 4-1 to require that all new homes have the …
Committee approves legislation to remove sprinkler system mandate The Senate Labor and Industry Committee today approved legislation that will remove the current mandate to install automatic sprinkler systems in new single family homes, according to Senator John R. Gordner,R-27 of Berwick, the committee chairman. …
Despite fire retardant materials in new homes, fire danger demands use of … – Many times, I’ve thought, “what if this home had a sprinkler system?” Much has been said about how safer new homes are today with fire retardant materials used in construction and that sprinkler systems are not needed, but the fact of the matter is, ..

Wildland Fire Safety

Southwest New Mexico residents urged to prepare for fire season Residents living in southwest New Mexico are urged to take aggressive fire prevention measures. That follows last month’s Quail Ridge fire which burned 1500 acres and 13 homes. The US Drought Monitor indicates severe drought …
The Texas Tribune: Forest Service Copes With a Busy Wildfire Season The Forest Service, facing budget cuts, is in for an unusually busy season for wildfires, with more than 600 fought already this year.
Early warning system When a forest fire burned about 1000 acres near Montvale, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Department used its Reverse 911 system to notify and urge evacuation for about 500 residents. It was one of the largest emergency-notification …
Education, preparation can help prevent wildfires Please take the opportunity this month to educate yourself about fire prevention and learn how to protect your family and home. There are many organizations that will provide you with information you can share with your friends and family about fire …

Other Fire Safety News

Fire prevention: Four focus areas to help reduce risk and increase safety Safety experts have developed fire prevention and response procedures focusing on four major areas in order to reduce risk to building occupants: Means of egress — When a fire or other emergency occurs, occupants must have the chance to leave. …
FDNY Shares Fire Safety Tips Through Comic Book – Children at Midtown Comics were in awe as superheroes helped Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano unveil a new comic book that includes valuable fire safety tips. Its creators say the city’s firefighters are the real heroes. ..
Kingsport marks four years with no fire fatalities – Tennessee – “The combined efforts of highly skilled firefighters, fire inspections , fire code enforcement, and the fire and life safety education personnel of the Kingsport Fire Department have paid off. These efforts, along with the heightened awareness of ..
Michigan Adopts NFPA 1, Fire Code Michigan has updated its adoption of the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) NFPA 1, Fire Code, the comprehensive industry standard for fire code regulation and hazard management. The adoption became effective on March 18, 2011. …
Fire safety – Sean Sperry Bozeman Fire Department deputy chief Greg Megaard sorts through rubble after a fire tore through a South 18th Ave. apartment building in March. The three-story building where two men died in a fire more than a month ago still stands at 215 …
Longtime Lemon Grove Firefighters Bring ‘History Alive’ – Lewis added that today’s firefighters don’t have time to do fire inspections . Thus, he and Rosenberger returned to work shortly after retirement to help conduct fire inspections . They also travel throughout the county to educate the public about fire …

Saves

4 adults, 1 child left homeless by blaze in Roanoke A smoke alarm sounded when the fire started about 1 pm in the 1500 block of Loudon Avenue Northwest, allowing one adult and the child, the only people home at the time, to safely escape, said Tiffany Bradbury, Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman. …
3 injured in Mahanoy City fire that destroys 2 homes “Smoke from the fire extended quickly into adjoining homes, but every homeowner had a working smoke detector which made it possible for them to get out safely,” he said. “I cannot stress enough, had it not been for those smoke detectors, …
Fire in MU quickly doused – Newberg said the building’s lower level was closed throughout the morning. Mike Reichling of the Tempe Fire Department said the sprinkler system saved the building. The building’s system was upgraded following a fire in November 2007, he said.
Family loses home to fire Smoke alarms alerted them, and both escaped the burning structure. “Friends are offering to help,” he said. “We’re just trying to get one …
ESCONDIDO: Early-morning fire displaces eight families The fire was reported at 4:08 am at 250 West 15th Ave. and arriving firefighters found smoke in a third-floor hallway and a fire sprinkler system operating, according to an Escondido Fire Department report. Although the sprinklers had extinguished the …
Family saved, thanks to boy’s smarts, courage As a member of the Philadelphia Fire Department’s Junior Fire Patrol, Darrell Scott, 12, took a fire-safety-awareness pledge, created an escape plan for his home and learned what to do if a fire struck. On March 14, that training helped …
Family escapes burning apartment in Paris Paris firefighters respond to Winwood Apartments on Paris Hills Road early Friday morning after a smoke alarm woke residents to a fire in a master bedroom. No one was injured. Smoke drifts from the window of an apartment building at …

Fire Prevention News: International

Fire safety checks reach 10000 landmark – Coventry Telegraph Fire safety checks reach 10000 landmark Coventry Telegraph A MASSIVE safety campaign by Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service has seen a landmark 10000 homes checked by firefighters. The service hit its target a month early – at the end of February – when a record 10300 had received home fire safety checks. …
Duracell campaign helps fund volunteer fire departments across Canada “Not to mention a lot of fire departments do blitzes in their communities and go out just to see if homes have smoke alarms and the ones that are battery-operated they will check them,” said Wagner. “A lot of fire departments will install brand-new …